Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) Announces Earnings Results

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The asset manager reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. Lazard had a net margin of 5.50% and a return on equity of 43.27%. The firm had revenue of $685.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $625.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Lazard Stock Performance

Shares of LAZ stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $48.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,449,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,278,187. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.27 and its 200-day moving average is $39.57. Lazard has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $49.59. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a PE ratio of -138.37 and a beta of 1.40.

Lazard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -571.41%.

Insider Activity at Lazard

In other Lazard news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares in the company, valued at $78,235,326.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 154,131 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.21, for a total value of $6,197,607.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,989,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,001,454.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kenneth M. Jacobs sold 207,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $9,362,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,729,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,235,326.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 414,000 shares of company stock worth $17,683,738. Corporate insiders own 3.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Lazard from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of Lazard in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.33.

Lazard Company Profile

Lazard, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial advisory and asset management firm in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. It operates in two segments, Financial Advisory and Asset Management. The Financial Advisory segment offers financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, shareholder, sovereign, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory services, as well as restructuring and liability management, and capital raising and placement services.